NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. – The opening edition of a five-game home stand for Manchester University gave fans plenty to talk about Tuesday, March 29.
Sophomore outfielder Eric Knepper (Bremen, Ind.) crushed a pair of majestic home runs over the left field fence, junior first baseman Tailur Szarenski (Bluffton, Ind.) sent a laser shot well over the shrubs surrounding Gratz Field in left center field, and senior shortstop Sean Knepper (Bremen, Ind.) clouted a home run to deep left field to help aid an 8-6 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference win over Defiance College. Even with the four round trippers and a strong three-inning stint out of the bullpen for junior Mason Neuman (Fort Wayne, Ind.), the partisan Black and Gold crowd couldn't breathe easy until the final out.
The Spartans needed every one of their 24 outs over eight innings to overcome a determined Yellowjacket crew. The visitors got their hosts attention in the top of the first, plating four runs on three hits, earning an advantage they kept until Szarenski's tape measure bomb and Knepper's second home run, which made its residence on Carl W. Burt Memorial Field very quickly down the right field line, put MU on top 6-5 in the sixth. DC, slipping to 9-8 overall and 2-2 in the league, responded with a single run in the seventh and had the potential lead score on third with nobody out before Neuman induced a line out, ground out and foul fly out to keep the game knotted at 6-6. From that point, the Spartans, improving to 9-8 overall and 3-1 in the conference to move into second just a half-game behind unbeaten Anderson University, picked up single runs in the seventh and eighth for a two-run cushion. The junior reliever made it stand up by compiling a three-up, three-down eighth and side-stepping an error in the ninth to pick up his first win of the year.
Manchester University's home stretch continues Friday and Saturday, April 1 and 2. Bluffton University pays a visit to North Manchester for a 4:15 p.m. single nine-inning game Friday and a 12 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.
NOTES: MU's three-through-five batters had a sparkling afternoon. The Knepper brothers and Szarenski totaled seven hits, seven RBI and eight runs scored … The outfield duo of junior left fielder Chad Schultz (Fair Oaks, Ind.) and freshman right fielder Tyler LaFollette (Warsaw, Ind.) added two hits apiece to the offensive attack … Sean Knepper extended his on-base string to 24 successive games dating back to the end of 2015 … The team's four home runs in a game where the most since the 2014 squad hit a similar number on their Myrtle Beach, S.C., trip against Eastern University of Pennsylvania.